Another Time, Another Place
by k9handler1969
Summary: Alternate Universe story about the mission to Hanoi


Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith leaned back on his bunk with his hands behind his head, thinking about the events of the day. The trial was not going very well for them, and he felt betrayed by the shocking news about Colonel Morrison being a North Vietnamese spy during the war. That new bit of information had been very damaging to their case given the fact he once regarded Samual Morrison as his friend, not just his commanding officer.

As a high ranking officer of the United States Army, Hannibal was unaccustomed to the betrayal by those he thought of as a friend. And then to be accused of murdering that same person, as an army officer and a patriot, Hannibal felt as if someone had stabbed him in the back. So after thinking about the events in play, Hannibal glanced up at the guard stationed on the other side of the bars of his cell door and laid his head back down, trying to come up with a plan escape his prison cell. But due to the circumstances of the day and his exhaustion, Hannibal soon fell asleep without coming up with an idea to even get out of the cellblock. So as his mind slipped into a dream, it went back in time to the final receipt of their orders from Morrison and his official go-ahead for the mission to Hanoi. And in the back of his mind, Hannibal felt as if something was wrong with the way the events were unfolding as he approached the chopper scheduled to take them to Hanoi. Hannibal glanced over at a man running up to him and recognized him as his pilot, Captain H. M. Murdock. So when Murdock came to a sliding stop and saluted him, Hannibal returned the salute.

"What is it, Captain?" Hannibal asked seeing that Murdock seemed to be a bit flustered. Things were not going according to the plan. Apparently, Hannibal thought.

"My chopper is down right now Colonel. Engine problems and it'll be a couple of hours before the mechanics can get it repaired. I checked around, and there aren't any birds available right now because they are all out picking up wounded. Sorry, sir, there's nothing I can do."

"That's OK, Captain, I guess we will just have to wait since there is nothing we can do about it. I know about the rest of the choppers being out on rescue and recon hops since the recent intelligence reports have stated there seems to be an NVA push into the area right now, so just keep on your guard. Captain, why don't you go see if you can't hurry up that repair crew a little."

"Yes sir, right away, sir." So with a crisp salute to his colonel, Murdock hurried off to check on his bird.

"What now, Hannibal?" Lt. Peck asked.

"I guess we wait since, without a helicopter, there's nothing we can do, and I'm sure not walking all the way to Hanoi," Hannibal stated and then walked off the hot tarmac of the runway over to some shade and sat down to wait for the repair crew. After a couple of hours, it was beginning to get dark, and Hannibal was getting antsy because his plan called for them to be near Hanoi already. At this rate, after Murdock dropped them off they were going to have to hump double-quick to get to the bank on time since he wanted to get in and out during the celebration of the TET New Year because with all the fireworks going off no one would hear them when they blew the vault.

Murdock came running up to Hannibal a few minutes later. "All set, sir, my bird is all ready to go. Let's be on our way."

"Let's go, guys," Hannibal ordered.

Darkness was beginning to fall around the GHQ and the airstrip, but before the men got 10 feet toward the waiting helicopter, several massive explosions rattled the air around them, and a few seconds later, they heard the whistle of incoming shells overhead.

"Incoming, everybody hit the dirt!" Hannibal yelled as he scrambled for cover with everyone else around the airfield as the shells rained down on the unprotected men. As Hannibal neared the closest foxhole, a shell exploded nearby, and one of the men running for cover went down, so he reversed his direction, picked him up in a fireman's carry and took off for the foxhole his men had jumped into a few seconds ago. After dumping the casualty on his shoulders into the hole, another shell hit close by, and everything went black as Hannibal fell headfirst into the hole.

The next day Hannibal awoke to find himself in the all-white room of a hospital, and as he looked up and focused his eyes, he saw a pretty dark-haired lady standing over his bed. Wondering what had happened, Hannibal shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and when he raised his hand to rub his head due to a massive headache, he saw an IV line running into his arm. As his eyes continued downward, Hannibal saw his right leg swathed in bandages, so bewildered he looked up into the eyes of the pretty lady doctor standing beside his bed, taking his pulse.

Upon seeing her patient awake and looking at her, the doctor gave him a tired smile. She looked exhausted and worn out. Probably because of all the wounded that came into the hospital because of the shelling, he thought, and to him, she was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a very long time with the loveliest brown eyes to go along with her dark hair. Even through her tired look, her eyes had taken on a mischievous twinkle to them, one to match his very own.

"Welcome back, how do you feel? I'm Doctor Sullivan, but you can call me Maggie if you like Colonel."

"I feel like I was hit by a semi. My head is pounding. What happened?"

"The base was mortared by the NVA last night; I am guessing that you were about to leave on a mission. Anyway, a shell hit near you and tore you leg up pretty bad, so much so I was afraid I would have to amputate it. But you got lucky, and we managed to save it. Besides your leg, you also have a pretty nasty concussion to go along with it since you struck the bottom of the foxhole with your head. You just got your ticket home Colonel."

"How are my men? Where are they?" Hannibal asked, concerned about the rest of his team.

About that time Murdock walked in with his arm in a cast, along with Face and BA and all three men were wearing pajamas with hospital robes and sporting bandages of one kind or another.

"Hey Hannibal, welcome back to the land of the living! How do you feel? You had us all worried sick about you when you didn't wake up after you got out of surgery." Murdock said with a flourish. "Looks like we all get to go home now."

"How's that Murdock? The war is still going on. I understand the fact that I'm going home since I almost lost my leg, but what about you guys."

"Oh yeah, I guess you haven't heard yet, being unconscious and all. The MP's arrested Morrison last night after the shelling. It seems that he was a spy for the NVA and the mission to Hanoi was a setup to get you captured. It's a good thing that my bird broke down, and you guys didn't get out of here, you might have ended up in the stockade with him. I overheard someone talking about it, and it seems JAG and CID think he gave the NVA the coordinates to the enemy mortar crews to bomb the base. I guess he won't be seeing daylight for quite awhile."

"Hannibal?" Dr. Sullivan asked, raising her eyebrows. "Where did that name come from?"

"It's a nickname, doc; everybody calls me that. It's a very long story; maybe I'll get to tell you the story one of these days. But just for a quick explanation, my buddies in Korea started called me that after I took over my platoon during an enemy push and I was only a 17-year-old corporal at the time." Hannibal stated with his eyes taking on a mischievous light as he stared at the beautiful woman next to his bed.

Face, BA, and Murdock bounded their heads from Dr. Sullivan to Hannibal and then back again, and their friend had a look in his eyes that they had never seen before and after taking one look at Dr. Sullivan they saw the same look there as well. It was like they were both on the JAZZ at the same time, but it was a different kind of jazz than the guys had ever seen in Hannibal, a romantic one since the two of them couldn't take their eyes off one another. There were definitely sparks flying between them.

"I think we'd better get out of here and let Hannibal get some rest. Catch ya later, Colonel," Face stated and with that, he ushered the other guys out, so the two lovebirds could be alone.

"I'll be back later to check on you, Colonel Smith. Get some rest," Maggie ordered as she slipped a sedative into the colonel's IV line and soon after Hannibal fell back to sleep. Something about this whole situation did not feel right, but Hannibal could not place what exactly it was that was bothering him as his eyes closed and everything went black.

"Wake up, Hannibal. It's time to get up," Maggie said as she elbowed Hannibal in the ribs as he was lying in their bed. "It's Tuesday. You run with your men on Tuesday's, General. Now get up so I can go back to sleep."

Hannibal looked up at the ceiling of the room, realizing that it had all a dream, "Gee, thanks a lot." Hannibal said with a serious look on his face.

"What were you dreaming about, honey?" Maggie asked, concerned all of a sudden at his serious expression.

"Nothing, really. It was just very strange; it was like what would have happened if we had gone on that mission to Hanoi during the war 15 years ago. I was in jail, and the army charged us with the robbery of the bank of Hanoi and the murder of Morrison. It was like deja vu since it was like something that should have happened, but it didn't for some reason. Oh well. It was just a dream, not something to dwell on. I guess I had better get up. It wouldn't be proper for the commanding general to be late, now would it?"

Hannibal got up and dressed in his workout clothes." I wonder if David would like to go out running with his old man this morning," Hannibal wondered out loud and about that same time the head of a young blond haired boy of about 14 years old popped into the room.

"Morning dad, ready to go?"

"Gee Hannibal, I guess he just might," Maggie giggled.

Hannibal gave her his best-wounded look and then headed out of the room with his son. "See you in a little while, Maggie. I love you."

"Get out of here you, big galoot. I love you, too. I'll see you later."

Maggie sat in bed, thinking about the last fifteen years and when she had first met her husband in the hospital all those years ago and saved his leg after the enemy nearly destroyed the forward firebase with mortars. It seemed like they had been meant to be together as they had hit it off right from the start of their relationship. When they both returned to the states and Hannibal had recovered from his wounds after a long stint in a rehabilitation hospital with her at his side, he proposed to her and got married a few weeks, with Face, BA, and Murdock standing beside him. After Hannibal recovered, the US Army promoted him to full colonel and gave him command of the 5th Special Forces group at Ft. Bragg, NC since he temporarily commanded the unit while a Lt. Colonel in Vietnam. And his men stayed him as members of his staff and were all married now with families of their own. When Hannibal was promoted to Lt. General and transferred to California, they came right along as well. Remaining a team.

About an hour later Hannibal and his son both returned to the house from the run and Maggie watched them come in all sweaty with a huge smile on her face. David then gave her a big hug when she met them in the hall, and after David let her go, Hannibal scooped her up and looked deep into her eyes with David grabbing the both of them in a hug.

"You know mom and dad; I love you both."

"We both love you, David" they both replied.

"You know Maggie; I love it when a plan comes together!"

The End


End file.
